Treatment of a new completed Period Piece screenplay. Curious what people would think.
I just finished a new screenplay on the 760CE Yangzhou Massacre in China during the waning days of the Tang Dynasty during the An-Shi Rebellion.
Logline: When running from Hell, paradise can become a Hell.
[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#F4E0E0; border:1px solid #E8C0C0; box-shadow:-1px -1px 3px #C66666 inset; border-radius:0.6em; margin:0.5385em 0em 0em 0.5385em;"]In 753CE, in the Persian capital of Kufa during the early days of the Islamic rule of the Abbasid caliphate, those who are not considered true followers of Islam were viewed as Dhimmi, second class citizens that were not allowed full citizenship rights, including special taxation on land and citizenship renewal, inability to possess arms, land/business confiscation, could not ride horses, are forced to wear identifying clothing and are forced to pay high alms to the Islamic poor that dhimmi poor would never see under penalty of punitive prison sentences. Criminal acts committed by dhimmi against Islamic citizens are subjected to the highest form of legal proceedings, while criminal acts against dhimmi by Islamic citizens are not only tolerated, but encouraged, as no dhimmi is allowed to testify in open court against an Islamic citizen.
As Moses Ben Levi, a successful metal-smith (silver and gold) and jewelry artisan and educated scholar, sits down at his home with his wife, Sarah, and six children for first Seder of Passover, a large mob of Islamic citizens begins to form on the outskirts of the Jewish community. Moses begins the dripping of the wine out of his glass to mark the ten plagues that befell Egypt. As he dips his fingertip into the wine, the mob descends upon the Jewish community. What follows can be described as nothing less than brutality and horror on a small scale. Houses are looted, businesses are ransacked, looted and burnt to the ground, men are dragged from their homes and beaten, women are gang-raped and murdered, children are taken and kidnapped for sale into slavery and holy relics are desecrated, violated and destroyed. The police sit back and watch the Jewish dhimmi brutalized. Any that beg for help are beaten to death by the police for lying about Islamic citizens.
Moses, realizing the town is under attack, grabs his family and begins to shuttle them into the street to find safety anyplace he can. As he gets his three youngest children and wife out of the house, the Persian Muslims break in his door and begin to destroy everything. His oldest son, Yehuda, breaks from his father to fight off the Muslims and protect his family, only to be cut down with swords and beaten to death. Moses watches in horror, but turns to get the family that is still alive to safety.
They flee through the streets of Kufa, running from the rampage that is all around them. Moses pushes his family through backstreets and alley, looking for anything he can use to save his family. He notices a few camels and begins to put his children on them to ride away, in violation of Persian law. However, as he puts his wife on the camel, arrows are shot at them, hitting his wife six times and she falls off the camel, dead in his arms. Her body falls on his, knocking him to the ground. As he struggles to get his wife's body off of him, Moses feels something hard hit his head and he is knocked out cold. As he fades into darkness, he hears the screams of his five children, screaming for their mother and father fade away and grow fainter and fainter. Moses, knocked out, lies on the ground with his dead wife dripping blood on him.
The next day, looters start searching the bodies of the dead for any valuables left behind, stripping the bodies of all clothing, even ripping out golden filling in teeth. One looter takes the clothing off Moses's wife and begins to rifle Moses's body, which jars him back awake. The looter, scared, loots Moses's silver “hand of God” necklace and runs away. Moses pushes his wife's dead body off of him and, while covered in blood, begins to yell the names of his five still-alive-but-missing children. His search discovers nothing, except being told all the children are gone.
He returns to his home to see Yehuda's body. He holds it in his arms and begins saying the Mourner's Kaddish. He buries Yeduda and his wife together in their front yard and mourns the seven mounds of soil before him. He tears his shirt to signify traditional Jewish mourning and sits shiva for a week in mourning. He does not bathe, shave, read. Moses sits and barely eats. During his sitting Shiva, his rabbi that survived, Moshe Herzl, pays a Nichum Aveilim (Shiva call) to Moses. They talk about their life in Persia and their second class citizen status. They reminice about Moses' children's Bar Mitzvah and Bris.
Moshe, through Moses's questions and demeanor, realizes Moses is having a crisis of faith. Moshe begins to spout Jewish religious ideas to Moses, who rejects all of them, cursing God and the Heavens for allowing this misery to befall his family and friends. Moshe tells him God is not to blame. Moses screams that if God didn't prevent it, he enabled it, that people praise God when good things happen, but it is wrong to blame him when he allows bad things happen to his children. Moses says he would never do to his children what God has does to his. Moshe takes Moses to the burnt out Temple and, with a tefillin, begins to pray, something Moses can't bring himself to do. Moses says he needs to leave the misery behind, telling Moshe that he will follow this trail that brings spices to Persia from the east and that maybe the place he ends up will not be as miserable as Persia. Moshe asks how he will get there. Moses says he hid most of his valuables and money in places no one but his family would know.
Sure enough, the day Moses leaves, Moses has new everything and huge amounts of paper money and silver and gold in locked crates. Moshe asks Moses if this is what he wants. Moses nods and get into the caravan. Moshe says he will pray that Moses finds his peace with God in this new place. Moses simply shakes his head and the caravan starts off. Moses asks the caravan leader where he will end up. The caravan leader, Shimon Lieber, says a place of fine fabric, spices, food, jewels and the most beautiful woman he has ever seen in his life. There is a montage of over a map showing the caravan leaving Kufa and going along the old Silk Road through northern Iran, Afghanistan, Kashmir, the Khyber Pass, into the Uyghur Empire and into Chang'an.
The caravan stops for the night in the Imperial Capital of Chang'an (modern day Xi'an) in order to purchase more provisions, pay the taxes and tolls needed to continue and register the foreigners into the realm. Shimon greets the Imperial soldiers in the traditional way, speaking, writing and reading the native language flawlessly. Moses watches from inside a wagon. Shimon returns and tells everyone they will be in this city for one night and that they will be shuttled into a hotel specifically for foreigners so they can be protected and watched.
At the hotel, Shimon takes everyone in. Moses stands in awe of the calligraphy, paintings, decorum and dress of the people in the hotel. The porters offer him a hot drink, which Moses declines, until Shimon tells him he must accept the drink and to not worry, it is kosher tea. Shimon informs everyone to pay him, because he is the only one with money for this land. After the formalities of the hotel are concluded, Shimon informs everyone that they are not to leave the hotel for any reason. There is a large meeting at the Imperial Palace between the Emperor and the warlords from the Southern part of the Empire. Chang'an is under a sundown curfew and people in this “realm don't show much mercy or tolerance to outsiders that break their laws.”
That night, Moses tries to read his Torah, pray to God and write in his diary. He tries to sleep, but cannot do it. He stares out the window and sees flickering lights in the distance, but thinks nothing of it. As he daydreams, an image of Sarah appears on the bed, sitting and looking at Moses. Moses apologizes for failing to protect them and leaving them behind. He tells his wife he doesn't know how to find their children and hopes they are dead, rather than what he was told happened to them. Sarah forgives him and tells Moses he has tormented himself for long enough. He needs to burn the candle and let the family go, something Moses says he will never do.
From outside, Moses hears the banging of a loud bell. He looks outside and see assassins running from Imperial soldiers. Arrows shoot down on the assassins and the streets fill up with soldiers yelling “kill the traitors.” Instantly, the assassins are surrounded. Faced with death, the assassin yell “death the Xuanzong” and kill themselves. The soldiers pounce on the dying assassins, cutting them to ribbons.
Moses watches this unfold in front of him in horror. He runs to the door and locks it. He closes the window, jumps into bed and starts praying to “the God of Isaac, Abraham and Jacob to allow him to live through the night.”
The next morning, the welcoming feeling of Chang'an has changed into an almost push out the door by Imperial soldiers. Moses looks at Shimon and begins to tell him what happened the previous night. Shimon puts up his hand and tells him not to speak of such things in public. Moses protests, but Shimon tells him it's best Moses forget the things he saw. Besides, Shimon informs Moses that power struggles are common in this part of the world. Nothing ever comes out of it and the place only gets stronger.
The caravan continues the montage journey from Chang'an, down the Huang He and into Jiang'nan, stopping in the city of Guangling (modern day Yangzhou).
As the caravan arrives in Guangling in 755CE, Moses steps out and is instantly awestruck by the beauty of the city. Canals, rivers, flowers and trees populate the area. Parks where he sees strange looking people doing strange things (Chinese chess, flying kites, caligraphy, tai chi) fill Moses's eyes and be believes he has found the Garden of Eden as described in the torah. As he disembarks, the Chinese people around him, dressed in strange clothing, stare at Moses, look at him funny and point at him. They speak a weird, new language Moses does not understand. Shimon informs Moses that he has arrived at Moses's new home, shakes Moses's hand and wishes him luck, telling Moses the people in this part of the world a very warm, welcoming and gentle.
As all of Moses's belongings are put on the ground and Shimon pulls away to continue the caravan to Canton (modern day Guangzhou), many Chinese come out and begin picking up the bags and chests left on the ground. Assuming he is being robbed, Moses begins pushing the Chinese men from his belonging. There is a massive communication mistake as the Chinese men are only looking to help the new foreigner to get where the foreigners in Guangling live. After being pushed away, the Chinese men walk away, upset and angered, saying the foreigner is on his own because he is rude and thoughtless. Moses is ignored and sees no one that looks like him. He stays standing on the side of the road with all his belongings until nightfall.
As dusk comes, more people come out on the street to eat and play, ignoring the rude foreigner that does not respect their culture and ways. As Moses watches, he sees a simplistic way of life that he has never seen before. Watching the spinning tops, the tai chi, the chess, the music playing, children playing cuju, Moses relaxes a bit and begins let his guard down.
As he watches, he leaves his belongings and walks to a road side noodle maker making dinner for people. Extremely hungry and very thirsty, Moses sits down to have people point and look at him. Some grab his clothes and wonder why he is dressed the way he is. Others try to grab his yarmulke and put it on, only to have it fall to the ground because they do not know how to wear it. The noodle maker asks Moses if he is hungry. Moses points to the food and makes a motion as though he wants to eat. The men look at him puzzled and mock him for being simple and insane.
From behind him, someone speaks the weird language forcefully and the noodle maker quickly starts making La Mian (hand pulled noodles). Confused, Moses turns around to see a very old Chinese man standing behind me. The man speaks in Farsi, something Moses picks up almost instantly. Moses says he is not Persian, but Jewish. The man smiles wider and starts speaking Hebrew. Moses realizes he just found a friend. Moses asks the man to sit and sees the other men give this old man a huge deal of respect. The old man introduces himself as Zhang Gui（张贵
, a local scholar and sort of a go-between for the foreigners and the locals in Guangling. As the food is put down, Moses asks if the meat in the dish is pork or beef. Zhang Gui says it is pork and tells the noodle maker to make it again with beef or lamb because the foreigner is forbidden to eat pork. The noodle maker picks the pork out of the noodles, replaces the meat with beef and puts it down again. Moses stands up and says he cannot even touch the table because treif has touched it and the table is unclean. This is an insult to the noodle maker to tells the rude foreigner to get out of his shop.
Zhang Gui takes Moses to his belongings and asks him if he can pay people one yuan each to help him go to the foreigner section of town. Moses says all he has his gold and silver. Zhang Gui takes twenty small pieces of silver and asks people if they want to make a little money. The men all take Moses's belongings and start walking with them toward Guyun River (古运河 . Moses and Zhang Gui get onto Zhang Gui's horse and cart and ride up toward the river, where Zhang Gui reveals himself to be a very wealthy landowner.
Zhang Gui drops Moses off at the house of Shumel Coen, Guangling's Jewish rabbi. Shumel, his wife Golda and eight children great Moses and invite him in for dinner and drink. They invite Zhang Gui into their home, but he says he has an appointment to make with a woman names Gao Xu Liu (高小娜 and cannot be late. As everyone walks into the house, Shumel's oldest son, Yitzak Coen, smiles and looks at the ground. Zhang Gui laughs and motions for the young man to come in. Making sure his father does not see him, Yitzak jumps up and joins Zhang Gui on the wagon.
The next day, with the help of Zhang Gui and Yitzak, Moses buys himself a small house on the banks of Guyun River, converts his gold and silver into money that can be spent in China and, with the help of his Zhang's four sons, sets up his smithing shop with all his tools, artifacts and handmail jewelry and gold and silver items. As they work, Zhang's wife, Luo Jin Li (罗金丽 and his daughter, Zhang Chu Chu (张楚楚 arrive, bringing food and drink for the men. Moses looks at Chu Chu and instantly feel an attraction. She is young, beautiful with long hair and alabaster skin. As her brothers start talking about the girls they want to know and marry and how they are every woman's dream, Chu Chu begins to put them in their place, castigating their egos and telling them they aren't as perfect as they believe. Moses watches this exchange and asks Zhang Gui if all women in China acted similar to his daughter. Luo Jin Li tells him only if the men are too stupid to realize how stupid they are. Zhang Gui takes exception, with his wife telling him his job is to make the money, her job is to run the house and he has a problem with her opinion, he can always visit Gao Xu Liu or go hungry.
That night, Moses finishes placing his items throughout his house, nails his mezuzah to the outside of his front door, places his fingers on it and kisses his fingers. He closes the door and looks at his house, claiming it is a good house, but lamenting it is missing one thing to make it complete. He looks at the table and sees a wrapped painting. He picks it up, unwraps it and sees a portrait of his wife, himself and his children. He picks up a nail and a hammer and puts the portrait over his bed. He looks at it and sits in the sofa. He takes off his Yarmulke and looks at the ground. He sits motionless, looking at the portrait and holding his Yarmulke.
One Shabbat night, Moses walks from his home toward the Temple. He meets a group of Persian Muslims sitting around a table smoking a hookah on the street. The Persians see Moses and call him over, using rather violent, anti-Semetic phrases. Moses ignores it. The Persians laugh that there is another dhimmi running around in this place and that the entire city is ruining. Moses turns around and is about to speak when all four stand up and start pushing and intimidating the old man. The Chinese watching it start insulting the Persians, telling them they should respect the elderly man and not hurt him. One Chinese man gets into the way between Moses and the Muslims, only to be pushed do the ground. Instantly, a flock of Chinese men come out to protect one of their own. When that happens, a middle aged Muslim man comes out and starts castigating the four Persians, ordering them to go away and go home. They look at Moses and scream that the dhimmi started the problem. The middle aged man, Mohammed Al Bashir, screams he will stop it. Mohammed turns to the man who was knocked down and asks if he is okay. The Chinese man says he is fine, but is going to the hospital to make sure and doesn't feel he needs to pay it. Mohammed tells the four men to empty their pockets, which they do. The Chinese man takes all the money on the table and says that should pay for the doctor. The four men leave and Mohammed turns to Moses, introducing himself as the Imam of Guangling. Moses shakes his head and tells Mohammed that he wants nothing to do with him or his people and to leave him be. Mohammed, insulted, demands an apology. Moses says when his people apologize and make amends for what they did to him, he will consider it. Mohammed yells that this is the reason he will always be dhimmi, in which Moses says that Mohammed will always be treif.
Moses works in his store, allowing the Chinese, Hindus, Zoroastrians and Chinese into his shop, but kicking out the Muslims every time they come in. However, as he works more with Zhang Gui, it becomes apparent that Moses is burying his pain and his life in his work. He works to learn Chinese culture and language with Zhang Gui and his sons, he learns how to cook with Chu Chu and begins to learn how to shop and live with Yitzak.
From the beginning, most Chinese shied away from Moses due to the reputation he developed his first day in Guangling. However, as time passes, his shop becomes a local hangout as Moses is kind, warmhearted and generous to everyone. He gives food to those who are hungry, he give money to those who need it and he does a lot of jobs for free or at cost, especially if the person coming into his shop is poor and cannot pay.
Throughout Guangling, there is rumbling of a rebellion against the Emperor. The people don't think much of it, except that they have heard stories of a rebellion General, Tian Shengong (田神功 , that has been ordered to go through Jiang'nan (modern day Jiangsu/Anhui/Jiangxi province) to pillage and rob in order to bring Jiang'nan to its knees for the rebellion. One such story is dictated by a middle aged man in front of Moses's shop, where he tells of a battle in Du Liang Shan (modern day Lianyungang) where Tian Shengong's army butchered the Imperial army, then turned on the population, executed them, stole everything the army could and burned anything that could not be taken. Most listen with interest, but know Du Liang Shan is far away and no one will bother them in Guangling.
Chu Chu asks her father if she can work with Moses in his store because he is not good at keeping track of his money. Being educated, Zhang Gui agrees, realizing that Moses has feelings for his daughter and that a good wealthy foreigner that will not leave might be better than a Chinese man like him that goes to bordellos.
Chu Chu begins to work in Moses's shop, taking care of the books, cooking for him and learning his language while teaching Moses hers. She begins to show Moses the sports and games of China archery, (which Moses picks up quickly) and horseback riding (which Moses comes to realize is not something that should be outlawed). Moses, for the first time in his life, feels accepted by those outside his faith. But, as the weeks turn to months, Moses becomes more and more despondent as loneliness has sunk in. He does not know how to move forward with Chu Chu or even if she wants to do something, so he feels deep down, that he will not be able to love and have a family again. Rejecting his Jewish roots and wish to become more like his new people, he throws away all his Jewish clothing, shaves his face and begins speaking more Chinese and being less with the foreigners. When Shumel sees this, he tells Moses that whatever is forcing him to reject the person he is, God will lead him in the right path. Moses looks at his family in the painting and tells Shumel there is no God. With that, Moses severs all ties with the foreigners.
As Moses's depression gets worse, Zhang Gui approaches him and asks if he would like to join him for a night of singing, dancing, drinking and fun. Assuming he will go to Zhang Gui's house, Moses accepts, but instead of going to Zhang Gui's home, they go to a large manor owned by a beautiful, middle aged woman, Gao Xu Liu. Inside the home are many beautiful girls that singing for men, dancing for men, debating the politics of the day and are being escorted to private rooms. Moses is shocked and almost leaves, but Gao comes out, takes his hand and tells him that Moses is more than welcome because she's heard many good things about him and any friend of Zhang Gui is welcome in her home. Zhang Gui looks at Gao and tells her to bring out the special girls. Gao claps her hand and six of the most beautiful women walk out to the floor. Zhang looks at Moses and tells him two are for him. Moses says this is against his beliefs. Zhang says this is China and Moses needs to adapt. Moses sighs, looks at the six and chooses the tallest girl, Snowflake (雪花 and the youngest, Apple (苹果 . Zhang tells Gao he will pay for everything.
Moses walks into a private room with the two girls and they giggle and laugh. Surprising him, the girls can speak his language. Instead of getting naked, Moses looks at the ground and the girls begin talking to him. He reveals himself to them to be a passionate, good man with a huge heart. They sense something is wrong with him and ask him what bothers him. Releazing he never burned his Yahrzeit Candles, Moses tells the girls he needs to get things off his chest. The girls sit and listen.
From inside the man room, a rather young Chinese man with an entourage enters the room. He is given instant respect. This is Fang Gang Qing (方刚庆 , the oldest son of the most influential and wealthy family in Guangling. He sees Gao and Zhang Gui speaking and walks over to them. Zhang Gui has an instant dislike for Fang and Gao feels a bit of antipathy as well, informing him that his father got him out of trouble last time, but if he does what he did to another girl in her house, he will be banned and the part of him that makes little “bunnies” like him will be removed while he sleeps. Fang laughs and asks for the special girls. Four of them come out, but the two he really wants (Snowflake and Apple) are missing. Furious, he demands to know where the girls are.
Moses is wrapping up his story and the girls are quietly weeping, telling Moses that is the saddest story they ever heard. From his love of family and deep devotion to them, he has legitimately seduced them, even if it is completely unintentional. The two girls ask him how long has it been since a woman touched him. Moses answers not since it family was taken away. They lay down Moses on the pillows and tell him to relax and do nothing. Moses says they do not have to do anything if they do not want to and he is not forcing them. Snowflake looks at Apple and tells Moses they aren't being forced. They want to be his first to help him recover his lost and broken heart, as they remove their dresses, exposing their flawless physiques. As the two girls crawl on top of Moses, the door flies open and the mood snaps. Fang stares at his two desire girls, pulls them out of the room and looks at Moses, screaming foreigners do not belong in this place. Moses stands up, looks at the two embarrassed girls and thanks them for everything. Fang screams that foreigners only steal from good Chinese people and that Moses needs to go back from where he came.
Moses walks out of the house, with Zhang Gui following a couple of minutes later. Zhang Gui informs Moses who Fang is and that he has powerful friends and a lot of power. Moses tells Zhang Gui he never did something like that before and to not think poorly of him. Zhang Gui tells Moses he has more respect for Jewish men than he had before because Moses is the first man, not boy, that went to Madame Gao's home. Moses tells Zhang Gui that he thinks he has fallen in love with his daughter since they work so closely and that he knows Zhang Gui will not approve due to the huge age difference. Zhang Gui tells Moses that not only does he approve, but he will pay for the entire wedding when the day comes, so long as Zhang Gui gets free jewelry for his wife and his favorite girl at Madame Gao's home.
Moses begins to realize, looking at his torah, that God does work in unusual ways. That night, he gets on his knees, pulls out his torah, looks at the portrait of his wife and talks to Sarah and God. He tells him he is ready to let Sarah and the children go. That he will never forget them in his heart, but he needs to move on. He tells Sarah he has mourned her everyday for six years. He has sacrificed a life with someone special to keep her memory and almost turned his back on God because of what happened. But he knows he is Jewish deep down and that tonight, with the girls at Madame Gao's, he burned his Yahrzeit Candle. He opens his Torah and says the Mourner's Kaddish one more time and begs God for his forgiveness.
The next day at his shop, Moses works with gold all day, crafting something and not wishing to be disturbed. Throughout the day, people that normally sit outside the shop begin to talk about this rebellion that has started in the north of the country and that the Emperor had fled Chang'an to Sichaun. People begin looking at this as a chance for change and a chance for poor people to finally get their due. Inside the shop, Chu Chu listens to the people talk. She tells them that this rebellion by the An family and the Shi family (安家，史家 will fail because the Emperor's forces are too strong. When she finishes talking, Fang walks up and smiles at Chu Chu, revealing there is an existing relationship between the two. Chu Chu tells Fang she didn't know he returned, to which Fang says he knows all about the rebellion because he knows from the farmers outside Guangling that Tian Shen Gong is rapidly approaching Guangling to take Jiang'nan from the Tang and that, because the Emperor was broken and fleeing, Tian will show even less mercy than the has in the past. He looks around at all the foreigner owned shops and restaurants, sneering that when Tian arrives, the entire landscape of Guangling will change and the leaches will be thrown into the river with rocks wrapped around their necks and that the people of Guangling need to embrace Tian in order to save their own lives.
Moses comes out of his workroom and calls Chu Chu in. Fang yells at her, telling her she is a traitor for working for people who rob from China for their own wealth. As Chu Chu leaves, Fang begins to stir up anti-foreigner xenophobia to a deaf audience. As he walks away to a nearby Chinese owned eatery however, two young boys, Li Ze Qiang (李泽强） and Liu Lei (刘磊 that listened run after him, telling him the foreigners were plaguing China and caused the Emperor to run away because they weakened him.
Inside the shop, Moses professes his love for Chu Chu, tells her that her father has approved of it, gets down on his knee and tells her he spent all day working on the gold ring in his hand and that he would be honored if she accepted his marriage proposal. Overwhelmed, Chu Chu is speechless. She looks at the ring and sees an engraving, but cannot read it. Moses tells her it means “My bright shining star.” Chu Chu asks why a star, why not a flower, to which Moses replies stars are beautiful and last forever. Flowers die after a few days. Moses slides the ring on her left hand and asks Chu Chu again. She agrees and they run out to the street, with Chu Chu saying she's getting married. Women come out to congratulate her and the men shake Moses's hand, telling him that he will make her proud. However, Fang sees this and becomes enraged, screaming that foreigners have destroyed China and letting one marry a Chinese girl will destroy everything they hold dear. However, no one listens.
That night, Moses invites Shumel to his home for dinner with Zhang and his family to announce the wedding. Shumel says he cannot accept a Jewish man marrying a non-Jewish woman. IT is an abombination and a sin. This engenders a hostile response from Zhang Gui, who demands to know why the rabbi insults his daughter in front of him. The rabbi states it is Jewish law that Jews only marry Jews. Moses tells Shumel that the wedding will happen without the Jewish community or with it and this dinner was an attempt to reconcile with his wrong words about God. Shumel says the pain Moses felt for the loss of his family was understandably why he questioned God, but that a Jewish man marrying a non-Jewish woman is an affront to everything holy. Incensed, Zhang Gui stands up to hit Shumel, but Luo Jin Li stops him, only to slap Shumel in the face, telling him he was a foreign devil and that Fang may be right about foreigners. Moses asks if she means all foreigners, then asks Shumel to leave, telling him he tried to reconcile, but he will not sacrifice his loving future for God, Jews or anyone. He and Chu Chu will marry without or with Jewish support.
The next day, Li and Liu that joined Luo stand on the street screaming against the evils of foreigners and what foreigners have done to weaken China and keep the Chinese poor and hungry. While the educated and the wealthy ignore the rabble rousing, the poorer, less educated Chinese begin to believe it. Within Guangling, slow changes begin. Anti-foreigner posters and writing show up on the doors and windows of foreign owned businesses, foreigners are robbed and mugged on the street, people who were were friendly with foreigners begin to turn their backs on their former friends. Businesses are vandalized with anti-foreigner propaganda. The final straw being a manufactured fight between a Persian Muslim and a Chinese boy in which the Muslim takes a swing and hit the Chinese boys, knocking him backwards so the Chinese boys smashes his against a pointed metal barrier, killing him. Instantly, without warning, Guangling descended into anti-foreigner riots, led on by Fang who feeds the flames. Zhang Gui works quickly to try to calm the riot, but the propaganda is too great. The Chinese burn businesses, loot the stores and begin to march toward the foreigner settlement. Only armed police hold them back. Fang targets Moses's shop personally, telling Li and Liu that he will destroy all foreigners because Moses robbed him of his prize. Fang, Li and Liu ransack the shop, take all valuables and raze it to the ground.
Suddenly, all foreigners are ostracized. Laws are passed due to Fang's influence to keep all foreigners in their area. Their businesses are confiscated. Their assets are frozen. Laws are passed similar to the laws of Persia dealing with the dhimmi. Moses realizes his Garden of Eden has become a living Hell, but now is powerless to leave. Fang keeps saying that the army of Tian Shen Gong will be in Guangling within the month and that 760CE will be the year China destroys all foreign oppression and greed. The poor take up arms.
One night, while sitting alone in his home, Chu Chu sneaks in to see Moses. Moses tells her she is risking her life to see him. She tells Moses Fang cannot hurt her or her family because of the power they have in Jiang'nan. Chu Chu tells Moses that she loves him and she stayed away in order to keep him safe, but the longer she was away, the more she wanted to be with him. Chu Chu confides that Moses is the most gentle man she ever met and she would die to keep him safe. She said her father has everything set. The boat down the canal to Chang Jiang will be ready the next night. Zhang Gui will pull most of Moses's money and put it in a chest. Moses and Chu Chu will take the boat in the canal to Chang Jiang and row across the river to Jin'Ling to get married. From there, they will return to Guangling and no one can hurt or touch Moses again because of the family's protection. Moses asks why can't it happen tonight. Chu Chu says the armies outside of Guangling are blocking everything. Nothing in and nothing out. There will be battle between the rebel army and Tian Shengong's army. When the battles happens, everyone will be distracted and Moses can escape safely. Moses professes his love for Chu Chu and tells her it's been seven years since he's been intimate with a woman. Chu Chu stands up, undoes her dress and as it hits the floor, tells Moses that he is her husband and if all they need is a piece of paper making it official, why should he wait any more? Moses picks up Chu Chu and carries her into bed.
The next morning, the gates of Hell open as the Battle of Guangling commences. The Tang army outnumbers Tian Shengong's army and strength in numbers proves too much for Tian to overcome. However, inside Guangling, the peasants that took up arms in the riots, lay waste to all law enforcement and anyone they believe can physically fight against them. With the threat of attack gone, the gates of the city open and the armed peasant attack the Tang army from behind. In a well designed trap, the Tang army is cut to ribbons and, at the gates of Guangling, Fang meets with Tian, offering him the city's loyalty and devotion to the rebellion. Tian rallies his troops as the sun sets over Guangling to tell Guangling they have been liberated from the oppression of Xuanzong, that the Tang made their misery and poverty possible by allowing in all the foreigners that sponged and leached off of the Chinese like parasite. He tells his troops that he is in charge and it is time to rid China of all the foreign leaches. With that, the peasants and the troops run through Guangling, finding every foreigner they can find, killing and beating the men to death, attacking and beating the women and stabbing any child they can find. The four Persians that attacked the Chinese man at the beginning are pulled from their homes and stabbed repeatedly in the street. Foreigners are attached to horses and dragged to their death. Chaos and carnage litter the streets.
Chu Chu runs into Moses's house and tells him they have to leave now. Moses grabs his clothes, gets dressed and runs out the door. What follows is a race against time to get to the boat that is supposed to get them Jin'Ling. Moses hears the screams of horror and death all around him, bringing memories back to him of his family's last night on Earth.
After getting through the city, Chu Chu and Moses see the boat and the chest on the boat. Zhang Gui is nowhere to be found. As Chu Chu and Moses get to the boat, Moses hears a Chinese man yell there's one trying to kidnap a girl. Instantly, seven Chinese men with bows and two with maces converge on Chu Chu and Moses. Moses hides Chu Chu behind him. Fang comes out and looks at Moses, telling him he should have married one of his own and announces that the girl with Moses will marry the foreigner, thus is a traitor to China and deserves to die with her foreign lover. The men begin to converge and Moses looks at Chu Chu, asking her if her father planned for this. Without warning, Chu Chu runs away from Moses, screaming the foreigner kidnapped her, she never knew him and runs to Fang begging him to protect her from the foreign rapist. Fang hurries Chu Chu out of “danger” and Moses, a broken man, falls to his knees and tells the Chinese to do their worst, because he died seven years ago.
The next week, Chu Chu goes to the river looking for Moses, praying against hope he got out. However, when she gets to the river, she sees the chest broken open and looted, and Moses' body face down in the river with numerous arrows in his body caught on a rock protruding out of the water. She pulls his body from the river, holds it and begs him to forgive her. Zhang Gui comes down to the river and sees his daughter and Moses. He looks at Chu Chu and tells her he did his best. Moses was a good man and didn't deserve this. Chu Chu tells her father she turned against Moses to save her own life. Zhang Gui tells her when war comes, people do things they later regret. He tells her that after the battle was over, Tian lied to Fang and turned on the city, executing Fang first. Zhang Gui tells Chu Chu that Tian took everything they had.
Chu Chu tells her father she ran and hid until she heard nothing, that this day is the first she has seen the sun in seven days. Chu Chu asks her father if he still loves her. Zhang Gui says her cowardice cost her a lot and shamed the family because a good man died, but family is forever. Chu Chu looks at her father, kisses him and tells him that she needs to be with her husband. Chu Chu picks up a rock, holds it in her hands and jumps in Guyun River, inhaling water as she sinks, instantly drowning herself, enabling her and Moses to live forever in death.
The movie ends describing that between 50,000 and 80,000 foreigners were killed in the Guangling massacre. The Lu Anshan Rebellion eventually failed and was destroyed in 763 after eight years of warfare, but the toll on the Tang Dynasty could never be repaired. Anti-foreigner sentiment continued in China for the next 125 years, culminating in the massacre of 120,000 foreigners in Panyu (modern day Guangzhou) in 879CE. Two hundred years after the Guangling massacre, the Tang Dynasty collapsed into the Liao Dynasty in the north and the Song Dynasty in the south after a short civil war period. Relations with foreigners greatly improved over the next 300 years during these two dynasties until China was conquered by the Mongols in 1271. At that time, an Italian explorer, an honored guest of Kublai Khan, came to China and, 24 years later, introduced Chinese spices, culture, goods and food to a new group of people. And the circle begins again.
The reason was done completely in Yangzhou, which is three hours by train from where I live. The names of city are the names at the time and the event happened exactly as I have written in my piece.
Any comments?
= new reply since forum marked as read
I'm not savvy about the format for a screenplay but I think it has to be structured differently with dialogue and characters matched - more like a play.
Great ideas though! Good luck!